On January 1st at four in the afternoon, Mr. R and I went to back to the spot where we got married exactly one year earlier. With Jessica, our wedding photographer, in tow, we set up a little picnic in front of our tree, cut into the top of our wedding cake, and got a few fabulous One Year Later photos:

Mrs. Prairie Dog nominates Mrs. Rainbow’s amazing makeup tutorials for the Weddingbee Helpful Series. Mrs. PD says, “I nominate Mrs. Rainbow’s makeup tutorials, particularly since my skin and I are not BFF. Though I didn’t do my own makeup for my wedding, I’ve used the tips for everyday wear. And yes, I tried the chafing gel on my face, and it is awesome. Love ya, Rainbow. Thanks for making my check-out process at CVS cheaper AND more awkward.

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Miss Rainbow here, reporting for duty.

It’s tutorial time, yet again! We’ve talked lashes, we’ve talked brows, and now it’s all about the face. I’m not going to go on and on about how important a smooth canvas is, but suffice it to say””it is, so take care of your skin. Now, back to the makeup! I’m going to teach you a few insider tips and tricks so you’ll have the most fabulous face in all the land. Enough chit chat; let’s get started.

First and foremost, start with a clean face (please excuse my no makeup face). After I wash my face, I always use toner. Biore Triple Action something or other. It’s inexpensive and works amazingly. It always gets off whatever make-up/dirt/oil that washing may have left behind.

Mrs. Spaniel nominated Mrs. Rainbow’s name change post. Mrs. Spaniel says, “I know that everyone has a post about name changing, but the one that really impacted me was Mrs. Rainbow’s post, where she told us that both she and her fiance decided to take both of their names. I’m not joking; it sparked the conversation where Mr. Spaniel and I actually decided to each take my birth name as a second middle name.

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Let me just start of by saying that I am so lucky to be marrying such an understanding, compassionate, and laid back man.

I say this because I initially had absolutely no desire to change my name, ever. Even as a little girl, I couldn’t imagine having anyone else’s last name but my own. I quite like my last name, it meshes well with my identity. It’s a strong””yet pretty and proper sounding””British name. It’s one of those names that goes well with everything, but isn’t super common, like Smith or Jones.

To be honest, I was a bit nervous about telling Mr. Rainbow that I was planning on keeping my last name. Most men (like my dad, for example) are so against the idea of their wife not having the same last name. When I broke the news to Mr. Rainbow, his response was something to the tune of: “Really? Okay, if that’s what you want sweetie, whatever makes you happy.” Gosh, I love that man. What potentially could have caused a huge fight between many other couples, was not even a ripple on our radar.

Fast-forward a few weeks later and the gears in my brain started spinning: “What if we decide to have kids? Whose name will they have? I don’t want to be the only one in the family with a different last name!”

The planning is finished, the wedding has passed, and my recaps have officially been wrapped up. I knew this day would eventually come, but that hasn’t made saying goodbye any easier.

You all have been such a big part of my life ever since my very first post went up on Weddingbee. Your advice, support, and opinions have been absolutely indispensable and I seriously don’t know how I would have planned our wedding (and kept a single shred of sanity) without you all. And for that, I thank you from the deepest depths of my rainbow colored heart.

In all honesty, we didn’t have a budget. That’s not because we had unlimited funds—quite the contrary, actually. It’s just that we really didn’t even discuss it. We knew we didn’t want some big lavish affair, and we knew we didn’t want to go into debt for it. That said, we simply booked vendors that we liked and had prices that we felt comfortable with, and that was that. We weren’t aiming for a particular number, but we knew what we could afford and what we couldn’t.

So how much did we spend? I have no idea. But once I’m done itemizing it for you here, well, I guess then I’ll know!

I love, love, love inspiration boards. I don’t know how people plan weddings without one. For me, it was indispensable. I’m pretty sure that without having a clear cut, readily accessible place to keep all my ideas, our wedding would have been one hot-ass mess. I even printed my board out when I went to find ribbon, flowers, etc.!

That said, obviously I’m big on having an overall vision. I like cohesion. I like to know where everything is going, if you will. Judging by my past here on the ‘bee, I alwayshavebeen.

That said, one of my most favorite post-wedding series are the “inspiration vs. reality” posts. I absolutely love seeing how brides pulled everything together to create a wedding based on their inspiration. Mrs. Peep Toe’s wedding was bright and festive, Mrs. Sand Dollar had a rustic affair, Mrs. Cheeseburger’s was classy and elegant, and Mrs. Flamingo’s wedding was pure vintage glamour. Oddly enough, I’m at a loss for words to exactly describe our wedding, so I’ll just show you!